According to ZDNet, Derrick Connell -- a Microsoft Corporate Vice President in charge of the Bing Experiences team -- said in a Yabbly interview that Microsoft's Scroogled campaign against Google is dead.

"That campaign had a primary purpose so let me explain that first," said Connell. "The main purpose was to bring attention to some activities that we didn't like as a company (for e.g. the idea of scanning email for the purpose of selling you ads seemed wrong). As a company we deeply care about trustworthy computing and user privacy. We felt there were things happening in the industry that didn't match our world view, and the campaign was aimed at providing information to consumers.

"It is tricky as you want to raise awareness and do it in a fun way. I think we achieved that goal, and changed some policies, and we are now done with the campaign. Mostly I feel proud that we decided to do it regardless of how we might be perceived."

For those who don't remember, Microsoft's Scroogled campaign was anti-Google, and aimed to educate users about Google's practices regarding the scanning of emails for advertising purposes.

Many saw the campaign as distasteful, as Microsoft really went out of its way to bash another company's product instead of focusing on making its own competing product better.

After Connell's interview, Microsoft sent out the following statement regarding whether the Scroogled campaign was truly over or not:

“We are always evaluating and evolving our marketing campaigns. There are times when we use our marketing to highlight differences in how we see the world compared to competitors, and the Scroogled campaign is an example of this. Moving forward, we will continue to use all the right approaches and tactics when and where they make sense.”

Who gives a crap how they "see the world"? This isn't a sociology class, or a politician running for office. It's a damn software company. Is it too much to ask for a company to focus on what its customers want? Apparently so.

quote: Is it too much to ask for a company to focus on what its customers want?

Do you live in a bubble? You mean to say that Apple hasn't run ads like these? Or Google? Or HTC? Or Samsung? Or any other company? Marketing doesn't make good products, but it does help consumers learn more about those products. I would love to live in a world where companies don't advertise by bashing their competitors, but that just isn't the case.

And, unlike Scroogled, they mostly lied. They were funny sometimes, but untrue. Trying to claim that the Mac is a gaming machine while PCs are just for work stands out as one of the biggest untruths in my memory.